Sex Matters When It Comes to Pain

An article in the Washington Post this morning by Francesca Lunzer Kritz made me chuckle because it could have been written about my self and my husband:

When I get a particularly nasty headache, I race for the ibuprofen bottle and down three 200-milligram tablets (a dose long ago approved by my doctor) and get on with whatever I was doing, comforted by the knowledge that I've taken action to dull the pain and that I will feel better soon. When my husband has a headache, he delays doing anything -- including telling me, for whatever comfort that might bring -- and succumbs to the ibuprofen (taking just two tablets) only when the pain is so severe he can't do much else...

The article goes onto to explain that growing research suggests that men's and women's nervous systems process pain information differently and act on it differently. The differences are important to recognize because it could help clinicians fine-tune pain treatments as need grows, especially with aging baby-boomers.

To read more, click here.